June 7, 2010

The 2010 Art + SoulFood festival is happening this Saturday, June 12th, from 2-6 pm. There will be an after-party at the North Star Bar. Here is a taste of the 2010 festival highlights (complete with handy bullet points):

A meet and greet with Darryl McCray of “Cornbread” fame, a former Brewerytown resident dubbed the father of modern graffiti. Catch the trailer to his upcoming documentary “Cry of the City” by producer Sean McKnight setting the record straight on Cornbread.

A recent mural installation by acclaimed muralist and street artist, Shepard Fairey. Shepard Fairey is most known for designing the iconic Obama poster during the 2008 presidential election, as well as the Obey/ Andre the Giant campaign.

20 area businesses and re purposed storefronts form an eclectic mix of art galleries highlighting mostly local talent. From the dry cleaners to the sneaker shop and even the sidewalks themselves the entire avenue becomes one enormous celebration of art. Couple that celebration with the delectable tastes of the some of the city’s best soul food restaurants and you get Art + SoulFood.

And the bullet points keep coming:

Direct from 26th & Thompson, the Robert Morris School Drum Team will perform!

June 18, 2009

Despite the rain, we received a sizable turn-out on Saturday night, and the evening went off, basically, without a hitch.

At one point the rain forced some delays/relocating of the musical acts, but all in all the sights, sounds, smells and most certainly the food were enjoyed by all.

Fortunately Lenyon Whitaker was on hand snapping away and gave us permission to use some of his images on our site. He really has a knack for catching the emotion of the specific moment he's focusing on.See if you can spot yourself!

June 11, 2009

As previously mentioned, there will be live music performed at two spots along the Avenue on Saturday, basically on either end of the action. Just outside of the Megawords display in 2621 Girard will be a line-up curated by local beat-cop and musician Officer Bryant, featuring:

Sinister: R&B group with a funk and soul sound.David "Bluesman" Blossom: Blues signer and guitarist.TKO: Funk and R&B singer with full band.The Illusions: Oldies R&B group with Temptations style song and dance.Voices For Christ: Gospel

At the other end, just outside of the Home + Craft space will be on 2943 Girard. This grouping was organized by James Coughlin, who is not only a musician himself but a painter as well:

June 8, 2009

For the weekend!A+SF teammates were all over this whole curating thing the last two days. The excitement became contagious as artists trickled in Saturday and Sunday to drop off their work.Here you see co-curator Sarah Peoples supervising the hanging method of assistant-to-the-curator Jacob Roller (who moonlights as property developer).Well done!Sarah painstakingly makes sure that each of Natalie Hope McDonald's photos are on the level.Josh Harmony's pottery was too irresistible to leave in the box. Wait until you see the mini-cups! Perfect for drinking sake out of...We were up to our necks in pedestals and paint for shelves...Ahhhh paint scabs.It wasn't all fun and games though. Co-curator Beth Smallwood has some pretty unconventional methods when it comes to directing...

So cavalier!Pearl Bell brought the family over along with her work-that's husband Matt and daughter Ava.

Unfortunately she took Ava with her...but we're happy to have her plates!We all treated ourselves to some Rita's-Ava got Cherry, I splurged for a soft-serve with jimmies. (sprinkles?)John Blanchet dropping off his work and papers at the space on 2819 Girard...Along with the puddles painters will be a digital video installation by Ira Blanchard, inside this secret room:We have our work cut out for us, as you can see.Rob Sutherland dropped off his work at the space on 2943 and then came down to 2819 to check out the progress. Then we all peeked in 2711 to see the newly rehabbed floor. That's Maria Eife to the left. Note the Rita's cone in her hand. We're turning into junkies here...I can't wait to get back to work again today so I can have more water ice!Where water ice leaves off, beer picks up-and we plopped our sweaty butts down for a few at Era after the day was done. Look! Our coasters!Unfortunately we missed all of the big bike race action of the day, but a couple enthusiasts were kind enough to give us a recap.Era was flexing its artistic muscles with a show of its own. We spoke with Luke Haggerty, the photographer you see below. Work it, Luke.And the lovely Paula Pardo shows us her lemons from behind the bar. On our side of the bar, her photos can be seen:At some point we all made it home in time to catch a disco nap or two and now it's time for me to get my act together and gear up for another busy day.Can't wait to see you all on Saturday!!!!xoxo,A+SF